U.S. patent number 4,928,361 [Application Number 07/418,521] was granted by the patent office on 1990-05-29 for paper clip.
Invention is credited to James Brown.
United States Patent |
4,928,361 |
Brown |
May 29, 1990 |
Paper clip
Abstract
An improved paper clip is provided which has three modes of use,
one of which enables part of the paper clip to extend beyond the
clipped papers for easy removal and visibility of the clip, another
is partially hidden but partially extended for use as a bookmark,
or the like, and the final embodiment is completely rotated against
the papers so that it is essentially completely hidden.
Inventors: |
Brown; James (San Diego,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
23658464 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/418,521 |
Filed: |
October 10, 1989 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/67.9; 24/545;
24/67R |
Current CPC
Class: |
B42D
9/005 (20130101); B42F 1/06 (20130101); Y10T
24/205 (20150115); Y10T 24/44769 (20150115); Y10T
24/20 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B42D
9/00 (20060101); B42F 1/00 (20060101); B42F
1/06 (20060101); B42F 001/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;24/67.1,67R,67.9,67.11,545,30.5 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Sakran; Victor N.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Branscomb; Ralph S.
Claims
I claim:
1. A clip comprising:
(a) a back panel;
(b) a resilient front panel connected to said back panel along the
edge thereof adjacent the upper edge of said back panel;
(c) said back panel extending down further than said front panel,
and said panels lying substantially flush against one another;
and
(d) a resilient spring finger extending down from said front panel
and being pressed against said back panel and being oriented to at
least partially press against paper captured between said front and
back panels, wherein said back panel has an opening in the lower
portion thereof aligned with said finger such that said finger
extends across said opening and extends well past the lower edge of
said back panel.
2. A paper clip according to claim 1 wherein said front and back
panels are unitary and form a bend therebetween, and said finger
defines an inward dent at said opening to depress paper clip
between said panels into said opening and continues downward to
define not only a pressure point at said dent, but a paper guide,
and a pressure-applying area along the length of said finger.
3. The paper clip according to claim 2 wherein said front panel
extends only partially across said back panel from said bend in the
lateral direction to facilitate inserting papers between said
panels.
4. A paper clip according to claim 3 wherein the edge of said front
panel which extends furthermost laterally across said rear back
panel, which is the edge opposite said bend, is flared up slightly
to expedite inserting paper between said panels.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traditional paper clips have a major advantage in that they are
very cheap to manufacture. Hundreds, if not thousands, of them can
be purchased for less than a dollar. However, they have certain
disadvantages. First, because there is always a wire end against
the paper, there is a tendency for the clip to tear the paper when
it is removed. Secondly, once the clip is in place, it is not
always clear when looking at a stack of papers, where the paper
clip is. It might be necessary, for example, to move a certain
group of papers that have been clipped together, but the irregular
edges of the papers in the stack make is impossible where the clip
is.
Lastly, the typical paper clip has a tendency to be bent out of
shape on the first use, making it a nuisance to use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant paper clip resolves all of the above-stated advantages
and comprises not a wire clip as traditional clips are, but a clip
fabricated from spring steel or like material with a high memory.
Basically, the clip is formed from a single sheet metal stamping
that is bent over along one edge to define a bottom panel, a top
panel, and a downwardly extending resilient finger which extends
beyond the back panel and up somewhat, to make it extremely easy to
engage the clip on paper.
By the nature of construction of the clip, there are three modes of
operation, depending on whether it is inserted straight onto the
paper, rotated 45 degrees or so, or rotated a full 90 degrees so
that the edge between the two panels lies flush against the top of
the paper.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the clip;
FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the clip;
FIG. 4 is an end elevation view taken along line 4--4 of FIG.
1;
FIG. 5 illustrates the clip in use in its 45 degree rotation
mode;
FIG. 6 illustrates the clip completely rotated so that it will be
out of sight on the paper; and
FIG. 7 illustrates the principal use of the clip, with
approximately half of the clip extending above the papers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The clip is shown at 10 and has a back panel 12, and a front panel
14 which connects to the back panel along the bend 16. These panels
are preferably of spring steel and are pressed together fairly
tightly to provide the best grip on the papers that they are
intended to hold. The front panel has a depending, resilient finger
18 which extends down below the bottom of the back panel 12 as best
shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. The long, extended finger enables the
clip to be easily engaged over several papers by depressing the
finger with the top edges of the paper. The clip fits on paper
24.
Additional features of the clip are the aperture 20, which
coincides with an indentation 22 in the finger, which is a slight
inward bend which coincide with the aperture 20. This serves the
purpose of deforming papers slightly that are engaged in the clip,
to enhance the grip of the clip.
The principal use of the clip is shown in FIG. 7, in which it
engages the papers straight on, with approximately half of the clip
or slightly less, extending above the papers. This not only holds
the papers together, but serves as a marker which is clearly
visible in a stack of papers. It also makes the clip easy to
remove, and when removing, there is no possibility that the paper
will be torn.
In a second mode shown in FIG. 5, the clip can be rotated
approximately 45 degrees, at which point it runs into a natural
resistance from the edge of the front panel of the clip, so that it
is easy to put in this position unless excess force is applied.
This mode of use grips the paper somewhat more firmly than the use
illustrated in FIG. 7, and could be used for a book marker, or just
as a paper clip as in FIG. 7.
The last mode is illustrated in FIG. 6. In this mode, the clip is
rotated all the way until the edge 16 is flush with the top of the
paper. In this mode, the clip is not extended from the papers, and
thus is not too much more visible than an ordinary paper clip,
although clearly the edge 16 is longer than the edge of a typical
paper clip. However, the main advantage of this mode is that the
papers are gripped more securely than the other two modes. In
addition, when the clip is removed in this mode, since there are no
wire ends or sharp edges to tear the paper, there is no chance the
paper will be torn.
In all modes of use, the instant clip is superior to existing clips
and their improved visibility in use, and even more importantly,
their ability not to tear paper when they are removed from the
papers to which they are clipped.
* * * * *